Welcome to the Downtown Phoenix Public Market, a program of  Community Food Connections, a 501 c 3 non-profit organization. The Market marks the spot where community revitalization, economic development and a showcase for local small-scale agriculture and local artists and crafters intersect in the heart of the city.     

Phoenix Permaculture Classes - Please check www.phoenixpermaculture.org for class location and more info.

Independents Week is this week - Monday, June 29 - Sunday, July 5. There are a variety of ways for you to get involved...it's easy to participate and the best way to "walk the talk" and demonstrate your passion and support for keeping your money where your home is. Take the Pledge - For the week of June 29 - July 5, Local First Arizona members and consumers can take the Pledge to shop locally.  View 10 Tips for Shopping Local to help guide you easily through the week. # 1 is Stop by the Market – Eat Fresh and Buy Local!

A comment from a customer encourages us to encourage you to bring your own plastic or reusable bags, to keep down the demand for plastic bags and help keep the vendors’ costs down at the same time. We also encourage you to return the vendors’ containers – egg cartons and glass bottles especially.

Attention State Employees! Support the Market and Community Food Connections in the 2009 State Employees Charitable Campaign.  Visit www.azsecc.org for more information.

Wednesday Market welcomes Gateau ZoZo with a beautiful array of French pastries. Custom Stitchery has stitched up some cool hand-bags and pillows. Join Art Without Walls to make and take some colorful crafts. Gage the Heat has pesto – Basil with Habañero and Cilantro with Jalapeño – perfect for grilling or pasta or a dip with chips! Nuna’s Mushroom Marinade, and Vinaigrette Salad Dressings are available at the More of Arizona’s Best booth. Pick up some Roh’s Chocolate Sauce there too – in original, raspberry or orange to top off an extraordinary summer sundae. Maya’s Farm has mixed squash, Armenian cucumbers and basil, basil, basil! (Photo by Linda Felde - Armenian cukes at One Windmill Farm.)

Crooked Sky Farms’ tomatoes this week include Homestead, Roma, Cherry, Lemon Boy, Better Girl and Better Boy! They have yard beans, elote blanco corn and many varieties of  melons: here is a link to Jen’s blog post - http://crookedskyfarms.com/csf/?p=345 where she shares some insights on how to store them and how to enjoy them!

And – Farmer Frank has wheat berries!

First, here’s how to clean the berries:

Pre-portion the berries in a medium bowl and then fill that bowl with water.  Swish the berries around in the water with your hand so the "fluffy" parts float to the top.  Tip the bowl to pour the fluffys off.  Add more water and swirl and pour as needed to get them all cleaned up.  Strain out the water and use in the cleaned wheat berries in the pancake recipe.

And, here’s the pancake recipe from Crooked Sky’s Community Supported Agriculture webpage –

 Whole Wheat Berries Pancakes- (TammiesRecipes.com)

A perfectly delicious pancake made with fresh wheat berries!

Yield: enough pancakes for 2 very hungry people

• 1 cup milk
• 3/4 cup whole wheat berries
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• dash of salt
• Fresh fruit or syrup, for serving

1. Using a glass blender (will scratch plastic), blend milk and wheat berries for 4 minutes on high. (Stop blender intermittently if you’re concerned about over-working your blender.)

2. Add baking powder, brown sugar, eggs, and salt to the blender. Replace lid and blend for 1 minute on low.

3. Spoon batter onto a hot greased griddle. Flip pancakes once during cooking (pancakes are ready to flip when bubbles on top stay open). Cook pancakes for several minutes, until done. Serve with fresh fruit or syrup!

Coming Saturday July 18 and Wednesday July 22 – Epicurious.com – the web magazine for people who love to eat - is making the Phoenix Public Market a stop on their summer tour – they’ll have a travel trailer and cool give-aways! Here’s one of their recipes using Wheat Berries from their partner Gourmet:

Wheat Berry Salad Gourmet  | July 2004

Yield: Makes 6 side-dish servings

Ingredients

• 2 cups hard wheat berries (3/4 lb)

• 3 tablespoons red-wine vinegar

• 3/4 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• 1 small red onion, halved lengthwise, then very thinly sliced lengthwise

• 1/2 cup chopped fresh dill

Preparation:

Cook wheat berries in a 4-quart pot of boiling water (not salted), uncovered, until tender, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Drain in a large sieve and rinse under cold water to cool, then drain well.

Whisk together vinegar, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Add oil in a slow stream, whisking until combined. Add wheat berries, onion, and dill and stir to coat well.

Cooks' note: Salad can be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered.

See all wheat berry salad recipes on epicurious.com

A Day at the Market - time lapse video from the heights of the Westward Ho by John McIntosh -               
                              click here to view at YouTube

Community Food Connections is proud to be a member of ONE Community - an interactive web and events community for gay, lesbian and allied individuals and corporations. 

A million thanks to Austin Commercial and Tom Condon for taking care of the parking lots and being wonderful neighbors. We truly appreciate their support. Also, heartfelt kudos to Southwestern Litho - they provide storage, and the nuts and bolts help with trash and utilities to keep things clean and comfortable. And props to our landlord Kurt Schneider of Schneider & Schneider LLC, also, for everything, little and big...

Stop by the More of Arizona's Best booths for McClendon's Select Honey, Queen Creek Olive Mill items, Grady's Barbeque, Urban Ovens and Fistiki Farms pistachios, including McClendon’s Select Bee Pollen, and honey comb, and Roh's Gourmet Fudge Sauce! You'll find water, soda, (including Sonoran Brewery Root Beer) and Market t-shirts, re-usable market bags - big, bold and beautiful - they support the environment and the Market too - all at the Market's Refreshment Palace!

Downtown Phoenix Public Market, By Sharon Salomon
Article Reprinted with permission from Phoenix Downtown Magazine
December 2007
When I moved to Phoenix some 30 years ago, small farms surrounded our West Phoenix neighborhood. We used to buy fruits and vegetables from a farmer-owned produce stand a few blocks from our house. Iappreciated buying directly from the person who had grown the food. There was a certain charm to knowing that the farmer from whom I was buying had personally picked the corn I was serving for dinner that night. Unfortunately, those small farms are long gone, replaced by strip malls and houses. Read the full text of this lovely story and   click on picture for full view.

Photos by Linda Felde

Market News:  View Video

INSIDE PHOENIX, On the Issues
Expansion Plans - Downtown Phoenix Public Market

Video provided courtesy

The City Public Information Office

Phoenix Channel 11

www.phoenix.gov/11


March 2009: On The Issues; Inside Phoenix:  Expansion plans for the Downtown Phoenix Public Market; Video interview featuring Community Food Connections Executive Director, Cindy Gentry and Maya Dailey of Maya's Farm, Board member of Community Food Connections and Don Keuth President of The Phoenix Community Alliance  

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Everything offered for sale at the Market is grown or made by the person selling it and the more ingredients that come from Arizona and the southwest the better. A limited amount of produce will be brought by the farmer from other Arizona farms - feel free to talk to them about where their produce comes from and their growing practices. Open since February 2005 the Market is a natural gathering place that celebrates neighborhoods and the neighbors. It offers an eclectic high-quality mix of:

• Fresh in-season fruits and vegetables, produce, flowers, jams,
  baked goods, dried beans, free-range eggs and honey
• Live plants and unique local arts and crafts
• Tasty hot foods, music and more

The Downtown Phoenix Public Market:

• Creates new and alternative outlets for Arizona growers and producers.
• Expands access to nutritious and locally produced foods for low-income children and adults.
• Brings new destinations and neighborhood retail and expanded pedestrian linkages.
• Meets escalating consumer demands for fresh and locally-produced foods.
  Builds local wealth, jobs and a revitalized community hub for residents of the community in which the market is located.
• Leverages resources for community-based organizations and other food and business related groups.
• Returns the market area to its historic role as a distribution area for Arizona produce/food brokers.